Protesters getting support from foreign NGOs: Govt

New Delhi: As fresh protest erupted in Tamil Nadu over the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant, the government on Monday said those staging demonstrations against the ambitious project were getting support from foreign NGOs.

"Foreign NGOs are supporting the movement. We are aware about the NGOs which are behind it," Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here.

Shinde said government was very clear as far as nuclear energy is concerned and wanted it to be produced in India as it was cheap and clean.

"Initially the cost of setting up the plant is high. But the cost of nuclear power is very low. We must have such energy," he said.

In February, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had blamed some US-based NGOs for putting difficulties in launching the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu.

Government had also probed fundings of around 12-13 Indian voluntary organisations which were launching the protest movement in Kudankulam.

Police today fired teargas shells to disperse anti-nuclear protesters, who again tried to lay siege to the nuclear power plant here demanding a halt to the loading of enriched uranium in the reactor.